While I certainly don’t acquire or purchase mobile games as much as I used to, there are several staples that have remained on my phone and tablet far longer than expected to give me brief bits of gaming pleasure when I need it. For today’s short Top 10 list, I’m going to share my go-to games for short sessions — not the longer RPGs or adventure games that I might have played and since deleted. Let’s go!

Bloons 6: Probably my favorite tower defense game to play while on my exercise bike in the morning, as the popping of balloons is cathartic and each session clocks in at around 20-25 minutes. Has a great balance of fun to tricky.

Clash Royale: While I don’t usually go for PvP games, this one has amused me for many years now and I’ve gotten good enough to muscle my way up into the double digit arenas without buying anything from the store. My kids also love this, even if they are far worse at it. C’mon, kids!

Knights of Pen and Paper 1 & 2: Really excellent pocket RPGs with humor, a D&D tabletop theme, and lots of strategy. The first game is probably more simplistic with battles while the second one was awesome before the free-to-play update came along to ruin it.

Dungeon Warfare 1 & 2: An addictive mix of tower defense and Dungeon Keeper-like gameplay. I’ve replayed the first game countless times and am only now starting to get into the sequel.

Polytopia: Civilization stripped down into a sleek, engaging format that can be played in about 15 minutes. I’m so impressed at how this game handles empire building — and in portrait mode, no less!

Tiny Tower: I used to be huge into this game and related sequels and spin-offs, and my wife still plays the Vegas version years later. Something fun about setting up businesses in your own tiny building.

Pixel People: I’m glad to hear that a remake/improved version of this is coming out soon, because I really adored this bizarre city builder – slash – cloning simulator.

Fallout Shelter: I play this one in spurts, but when I’m into it, I’m really into it. One of my favorite Fallout games of all time, actually. Wish they’d develop more for it — or a sequel!

Card Crawl: A really underrated solitaire card game that has you trying to beat a dungeon with a set of cards. I’m still slowly unlocking new ability cards and looking forward to the day I can build my own decks.

Battleheart series: All three of these RPG battlers are excellent, although I like Legacy the most because it’s the easiest to play (no toggling between characters). It’s like popcorn RPG, just fight and loot and level.

6 thoughts on “10 of my favorite pick-up-and-play mobile games”

I’ve been playing Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic a lot lately. It’s basically the full versions of the original PC RCT 1 and 2. The touch interface works a lot better than I expected, even on my phone. Definitely worth the $6 if you’re into tycoon sims at all.